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Monday, September 15, 2008

If there’s one good thing about those rain delays, it’s that they gave Paul Konerko some guilt-free bench time. He’ll be ready to go again tomorrow, according to everyone. Unfortunately for him, what he’s coming to is anything but pretty.

The team we are looking at today is relying on the bat of DeWayne Wise, and cannot rely on its bullpen to hold a score. Yes, the only points scored by the Sox today were on a 2-run homer by Wise. Hope Brian Anderson brought a seat cushion for himself, because it doesn’t look like he’ll be getting any more playing time for quite awhile. I would hope the same is true for Nick Swisher, who is hitting a whopping .154 in September.

But, back to today’s 4-2 loss. We might say the problem is that the Sox couldn’t score more than 2 runs today. And that would be completely true. But there is something to be said about our bullpen. Thankfully, MacDougal could hold his own against the Yanks, otherwise our entire bullpen could be deemed as useless. Ehren Wassermann walked the first man he faced, so after the next batter sacrificed him over to 2nd, he was out of the game. While that wasn’t an optimal situation, the optimal decision was not to bring in Horacio Ramirez. I was willing to bet that Wassermann would have done less damage had he been allowed to finish the inning. (I know, where is all this Wassermann love coming from?I can’t explain it. Wassermann has had 19 runs (17 earned) on 27 hits in 19.1 innings. Ramirez has had 8 runs on 19 hits (all earned) in 10.2 innings with the Sox. While the numbers are pretty similar (Wassermann’s ERA by my calculations is about 8 and Ramirez’s is about 7), at least Wassermann continues to post impressive numbers in AAA, showing potential.)

Over in the outfield, Griffert has really been hustling. Sure, he’s not making plays with the greatest of ease, but he’s making them. He’s not lighting up the pitchers he’s facing, but I guess that as long as he posts numbers that are as good as Anderson’s and better than Swisher’s, what’s Ozzie to do? And speaking of plays in the outfield, Jermayne Dye has had some issues making a play in the 4th. I really enjoyed Buehrle’s reaction, but I did not enjoy that one of the Yanks got a double on what should have been a simple out.

Well, thankfully for the Sox, the Twins’ baseball is just as pitiful as the Sox’. For all those that are looking forward to an “exciting, close finish,” enjoy. This is a long, 4-game series, with a likely cameo by Lance Broadway. There are just 13 games left in the season and just 1.5 games between the Sox and Twins.